Schumer Gives Clinton Early Endorsement as Support Coalesces

Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has quickly re-emerged on the national political scene since resigning from the post in February. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

Nov. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Senator Charles Schumer endorsed
Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination in an
Iowa speech yesterday, more than two years before the state
hosts the country’s first presidential caucuses.

“It’s time for a woman to be president,” New York
Democrat Schumer said at the Iowa Democratic Party’s Jefferson
Jackson dinner in Des Moines. “That’s why I am urging Hillary
Clinton to run for president and, when she does, she will have
my full and unwavering support.”

Clinton has quickly re-emerged on the national political
scene since resigning as secretary of state in February. The
former presidential candidate, U.S. senator and first lady has
amassed a team of experienced aides, and a political action
committee, Ready for Hillary, had raised $1.3 million on her
behalf as of June 30, according to Federal Election Commission
records.

In October, the political action committee announced the
addition of billionaire investor George Soros to its national
finance council, a group of donors who contribute or raise
$25,000.

Schumer’s early endorsement of Clinton is another example
of her coalescing political support.

While Clinton has not said whether she’s running, her
involvement in the New York City-based Bill, Hillary & Chelsea
Clinton Foundation is providing opportunity to meet with
potential campaign donors and develop a policy platform. On Nov.
1, before an audience of 7,000 people, Clinton announced a new
foundation initiative on women’s’ rights and empowerment.

Ready for Hillary

Among the attendees at the Clinton Global Initiative’s
annual conference last month was Qualcomm Inc. co-founder Irwin
Jacobs, who gave $25,000 to the Ready for Hillary group in June.

A Quinnipiac University poll conducted Sept. 23-29 found
her comfortably ahead of potential Democratic rivals, with
support from 61 percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning
independents, compared with 11 percent for the next-ranking
choice, Vice President Joe Biden.

“2015 is Hillary’s time,” Schumer said. “And our nation
will be all the better for it.”

Schumer also used the Iowa speech to attack Tea Party
Republicans for holding the nation “hostage” during last
month’s budget standoff, which resulted in a two-week government
shutdown.

“The American people know that the Tea Party drove the
nation and the world to the brink of default, risking economic
collapse,” Schumer said in a written copy of the speech. “They
cruelly and needlessly put 800,000 people out of work and, in
one fell swoop, the party that once obsessed on the term ‘job-creators’ had suddenly become the job annihilation party.”